Imagine if old solar panels weren't just trash, but gold mines for the next generation of panels. Instead of crushing them into low-grade rubble, this work figures out how to carefully take them apart to save the pure silver, silicon, and glass. It's like turning a broken-down car back into brand new engine parts rather than just melting it for scrap metal.
Current PV recycling is inefficient, often resulting in low-value waste and hazardous lead leakage. This creates a financial loss for recyclers and a raw material shortage for manufacturers.
A modular recycling system including silver recovery routes, silicon purification pathways, and a Digital Product Passport for material traceability.
If you are a PV manufacturer dealing with high raw material costs — this project developed a closed-loop recycling process that recovers solar-grade silicon and glass. This allows you to reintegrate high-purity recycled materials directly back into your production line.
If you are a waste processor dealing with low profit margins from basic crushing — this project developed modular separation and purification routes for silver and heavy metals. This increases the financial value of the recovered materials, making the recycling process more profitable.
If you are a glass producer dealing with the challenge of incorporating waste into high-spec products — this project developed a roadmap for using recycled PV glass in solar glass production. This helps you meet circularity requirements without sacrificing material quality.
Based on available project data, it lowers the financial burden of material recovery by increasing the value of the recovered materials, such as silver and silicon, making the overall process more profitable.
The project focuses on demonstrating scalable purification routes and modular separation steps to ensure the recovered materials meet current industrial requirements for re-introduction into the value chain.
Based on available project data, the project is developing business cases and market introduction strategies for a selection of the processes and products, which will likely form the basis for future licensing.
It integrates Digital Product Passports (DPP) to ensure transparent data sharing and compliance with the Critical Raw Materials Act and the Circular Economy Action Plan.
The project period is scheduled from 2023-10-01 to 2027-03-31.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application, with an industry ratio of 52% comprising 11 industrial partners. This strong private-sector presence, combined with 5 research centers and 2 universities across 10 countries, suggests the project is designed for market absorption rather than purely academic discovery.
Contact INSTITUTT FOR ENERGITEKNIKK STI in Norway
Contact us to connect with the RETRIEVE consortium for licensing high-purity silicon recovery tech.
